ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY
Saints celebrated on the 12th of February
Prayer to the Angels and the Saints
Heavenly Father, in praising Your Angels and Saints we praise Your glory, for by honouring them we honour You, their Creator. Their splendour shows us Your greatness, which infinitely surpasses that of all creation.
In Your loving providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven.
Heavenly Father, You are glorified in Your Saints, for their glory is the crowning of Your gifts. You provide an example for us by their lives on earth, You give us their friendship by our communion with them, You grant us strength and protection through their prayer for the Church, and You spur us on to victory over evil and the prize of eternal glory by this great company of witnesses.
Grant that we who aspire to take part in their joy may be filled with the Spirit that blessed their lives, so that, after sharing their faith on earth, we may also experience their peace in heaven. Amen.
ST LUDEN, PILGRIM
Of Saint Ludanus [Luden, Ludain], a holy pilgrim, we have only legendary news. Certain is only his name and his veneration. The Bollandists found a biography of him in the Bodeken monastery near Paderborn, the author of which is unknown. The content of the same is as follows:
HE BUILT A LARGE HOSPITAL
St Ludanus was a son of Hiltebold, a Scottish duke. After the death of his father he used all his wealth for pious purposes and built a large hospital for strangers, the sick and the infirm of all kinds.
THE PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND
Progressing from virtue to virtue, he undertook a journey to the Holy Land, and to the tombs of the Princes of the Apostles and other saints, visiting all the sanctuaries, growing ever more in zeal for God's glory.
AN ANGEL BROUGHT HIM HOLY COMMUNION
On his way back he passed through Alsace. As he rested on the road between Benfeld and Strasbourg, he fell into a sleep in which the end of his life was revealed to him.
Awakened from the dream, he asked God not to let him die until he had enjoyed the Body of the Lord. An angel came down from heaven and brought him holy Communion, after which he breathed out his pious soul with the words: "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit".
ALL THE BELLS STARTED RINGING ON THEIR OWN ACCORD
At his death all the bells in the surrounding villages rang without a human hand being involved. A piece of paper was found in his travel bag with the inscription: My name is Ludanus, I am a son of the noble Scots prince Hiltebold, a Christian by birth, and for the name and honour of God I am Peregrinus, i.e. become "pilgrim".
His body exhaled the sweetest fragrance when touched. He was buried in the parish church of St George (Scheerkirche), which is still called St Luden after the saint. Many miracles are happening there to this day. He died in 1202, rich in virtues and merits. His grave was destroyed in the Swedish wars.
(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, 1858)
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